Starting at the bottom. $2NL 6-max at PokerStars.

[QuadJunk]

Basically, I'm trying to build a bank roll and learn to play 6-max cash on PokerStars. My rules as far as bank roll go, is that I must have more than 2000 big blinds to play in any cash game (so for $2NL, that's $40, I've got about $70), 20 times the buyin (including rake) to play a STT, and 50 times to play a MTT. I'm very strict about my bankroll rules, and I won't break them.

At one point I had enough to move up to $5NL, I did so, and instantly took a bad beat (floped the nut Full House, with AK, all-in, 44 calls, turn 4, river 4, grrr). PokerTracker tells me I'm up about 16 bucks on $2NL after 11K hands. I was about double that amount, but I've just had a string of really pricey outdraws; that's life.

I've read a lot of stuff, including the FTR forums, and some other strategy guides around the web. They've all been helpful, for sure, but it seems to me that any decently written guide, or good piece of advice I find is only applicable against players who can play at least a bit. Basically they're mainly aimed at $100NL+, and don't really apply to players who are making decision based less on their cards/position, and more on what they had for lunch that day. How can I read someone who one minute checks the nuts, and the next calls me all in with 83o? How can I figure out the structure of someone's play, if it has no structure at all?

What I'm looking for is some basic strategy advice geared towards the micro stakes, so that I can beat it, build a roll, and move up.

Other questions - is there any difference in play between $2NL 6-max on Stars, and 5$NL 6-max? Is my 2000 BB BR rule sound? Is it overkill/underkill?

My PT stats for $2NL After 11k hands (I believe these are the relevent ones):
VPIP - 25, PF Raise - 3.7, Total AF - 0.74.

Is that about right for the game I'm playing? If not, how not?

My ultimate goal is to eventually move up through the limits to $100NL, and consistently beat it. For that I need a roll, and I want to build it from next to scratch. (I'm pretty sure if I loaded 2k of my own money and went straight on to $100NL, It'd all be gone in a week).

I'm basically a begginer, compared to a lot of the people on here, and if anyone could give me some decent advice, I'd appreciate it greatly.

[bored]

PF Raise 3.7 and Total AF .74 is pretty terrible IMO.

Try raising every hand you play except when you are in the blinds for starters.

Also, you'll make a mint vs people who check the nuts and call AIs w/ 83o.

[MickChecker]

I think your bankroll rules are pretty solid. I would also recommend trying to raise more preflop. Your VPIP number seems a bit high and you should try to minimize the difference between VPIP and PFR. Also you need to play more aggressive. 0.74 is way too low.
Against the villains you mentioned, all you have to do is play solid. Don't play big pots with mediocre hands. And don't slowplay your big hands, of course.
Then just take some time and you'll beat this limit.

[jerryf1914]

[ QUOTE ]
VPIP - 25, PF Raise - 3.7, Total AF - 0.74.

[/ QUOTE ]

thats fine for up to 10nl but after that you'll have to raise more often

[AroundTheHorn]

[ QUOTE ]
VPIP - 25, PF Raise - 3.7, Total AF - 0.74

[/ QUOTE ]

at that level, i'd say vpip 15-17 is about optimal w/ pfr not far behind. your af is way too low, you might want to try a stretch of hands where you don't call at all, giving yourself only the options of raising or folding. that's a good exercise imho.

[QuadJunk]

Well, those stats may be slightly skewed (but not too much) because for the first 3k hands, I was calling with just about anything from any position. My thinking was "It's only 2 cents, if I hit, I'm going to get someone all in for 5 dollars". Don't worry, I've learnt, and I've been tightening up ever since. Since then the VPIP has gone down steadily, and I'm estimating it'll stop at about 20-22.

Now I limp any broadway combo (that's JT+) from any position. I play any pocket pair or a suited Ace anywhere, and I'll call a raise with any PP if the minimum stack in the hand has at least 15x what it's going to cost me to call (I'm looking for a set, is that right?). I'm limping the button with SCs down to 87s. About 2k hands ago I was told that my PFR is poor so now I'm raising AQ from anywhere, AJ from from MP, CO, and BTN. Raising TT+ from anywhere. Raising 99 from BTN, as well as any broadway King or Ace, and QJs. I'm all in with QQ+, and not AK unless I know the guy is a maniac. This is only my default play, and table conditions and situation will effect it, but usually this is how I'm playing.

Does that sound about right?

[Spanky1974]

Read and study Tiens 6max starting guide in the sticky. Also read some stickied threads on bankroll. Limping lots of hands is not really a great strategy, even at the lowest micros. 6 Max fundamentals for SSNL players

[jgallardo]

I'd reccomend a bankroll slightly bigger than 2000 bb's, which is only 20 buy-ins... but seeing as you have $70, you're good. Optimally, I'd say at least 30 buy-ins is a much better cushion in case variance kicks in hard, as it will with players who don't seem to know how to click Fold. At those stakes though, it will seem like it's taking forever to move up the levels. If possible, start with a slightly higher bankroll ($300, for $.05/.10 let's say) and I would say it'll be easier to move up, and the money will seem a little more significant than the "it's only 2 cents, I'll draw to runner runner every time" mentality.

Your VPIP should be lower (in the 12-16 range), your PFR should be at least 12%, with your AF at least 3, but not higher than 4-5.

As was said before, try raising when you're coming into the pot. Don't limp as much, and tighten up a little in early positions.

Good luck!

[Shoe Lace]

NL2 is much different than NL5.

At NL2 you can massively over bet your strong hands all day and get payed off (like betting $1 into a 17c pot on the flop and shoving the rest of your stack on the turn with a big hand and draws/TPish hands will call non-stop). This doesn't work as good at NL5. It has reasonable success but not nearly as much as NL2.

At NL2 you can expect to win a lot of flops by just raising pre-flop and betting the flop regardless of how tight you've been running. This doesn't make sense but it's how it is.

I've been at NL2 tables where I've ran 18/16ish and magically ended up multiple buyins over a relatively small sample without winning any big pots. This doesn't happen too much at NL5.

At NL5 players tend to play more post flop (which is excellent because for the most part they are making big errors). Don't expect to take down most pots with a standard cbet. 2 barrels will work often vs the right opponents like clockwork though.

NL5 is way more profitable than NL2 IMO. Poor players will invest nearly 100BBs with bad draws or weakish hands. Just play straight forward ABC and pay attention to each and every player (to see which ones you can exploit). You'll crush it.

NL10 is very similar to NL5 except it might take slightly longer to find juicy tables. Generally the player pool is more tight as a whole but there's still TONs of really loose poor players.

[Spurious]

I'm running pretty good at the NL5 200BB Stars 6max cash games and i think aggression is everything. I run at around 26/20/6 and it works pretty well.
You call way too much. First think of a reason to raise, if you can't find one then think of one to fold and if you still can't find one then call [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]